Letter to the school district

May 24, 2011



Dear Ms. Charuhas,

I am writing in regard to your May 12 letter to parents of children with IEPs in the Vancouver Public Schools. You have stated that the changes to the district's special ed program are merely "perceived," and that these are not really changes but rather improvements to be made, based on program reviews. There is no mention of budget cuts or of the school's closure in your letter. I resent your deceptive language. These are most definitely real changes, not perceived--and very serious and concerning changes. It is insulting to try to pass off these budget cuts as improvements. This is very obviously a downgrade of services and of the quality of services. If this were not so, it would not be happening in the course of a budget cut.

Your letter does not mention the closure of the early childhood center and that these young children will no longer have the safety of a self-contained campus. I am a firm believer in inclusion when it applies to school age children. However, special needs preschoolers ages 3-5 are too young for inclusion. As a parent who does my own transport, I see the daily operations at VECC and I will attest to anyone that the district is cutting corners on safety in order to save some money, and they are taking from the most vulnerable population--special needs preschoolers. This is an extremely vulnerable population group that does not have a voice. I also mean that literally, as many of the children do not speak. Some are blind. Some require more than one staff member to be restrained. Some are still in diaper pull-ups. Just getting them from the buses to the classrooms, and then back on the buses, is a big ordeal. The staff does their best but I have personally witnessed mishaps that could have resulted in a missing child if it weren't for the self-contained campus. Trying to run this program on an elementary school campus with other buses, bigger kids, and just a lot more going on is a very bad idea.  Has the district considered the cost of a lawsuit in the event a child is harmed or lost as a result of this new, cheaper, and "least restrictive" environment? There is a growing coalition of parents and concerned citizens who will be calling for accountability.

It is my belief that the persons behind this agenda to close VECC as a way to save money have never actually observed the daily operations at VECC, therefore have no understanding of its importance and the need for a self-contained facility. If improvement was really the only agenda here, then the plan would be to keep VECC open and add more staff.

Regards,